CSR Appropriation Process in Six Member Companies of the Global Compact Network Tunisia

Abstract

There is currently no work dealing with CSR appropriation through a sensemaking perspective. The purpose of this research is to understand the CSR appropriation process of companies registered in a network through a sensemaking perspective. Anchored in pragmatic constructivism, this research mobilizes an intervention research method in the study of six cases of companies belonging to the Global Compact network for which we have been the coordinator. The data collection method consists of semi-structured and collective interviews as well as observation. The content analysis allowed for an interpretation of the results by applying a "case-oriented strategy", a "replication strategy" and "inter-case" analysis. The results show three stages of sensemaking in which the network intervenes (enactment) according to the stage of practice of CSR in the firm: (1) an intersubjective construction corresponding to pragmatic sensemaking (2) the passage from an intersubjective construction to generic construction characterised by an "organised anarchy" (3) generic construction where the sensemaking is political and procedural as influenced by strategy and corporate culture. The network interferes favourably in the process of sensemaking (enactment) by acting on the strategic technical and the cognitive levels.